GDHQNHL15_2pg-Philadelphia Flyers 2

Anaheim Ducks Gameday HQ

Coburn did not have his best year
in 2013-14, scoring only 17 points
and finishing with a -6 rating. He
has to step up to help the Flyers
perform better, especially in the
post-season. The Flyers traded
away Andrej Meszaros, but that
didn’t break too many fans’ hearts.
They are hoping Michael Del Zotto
can rediscover the production he
had early in his career, although
that may be something of a stretch.
Philadelphia committed a lot
of money to Andrew MacDonald during the offseason. Some might look
at his offensive numbers (28 points) and his awful minus-22 rating last
year with the Flyers and Islanders and wonder why the team did it. But
MacDonald is an excellent shot blocker, and that helps a lot.
Luke Schenn and Nicklas Grossman have experience, but neither has
top-tier talent. That’s the problem throughout the entire defensive lineup.
The Flyers lack the talent there to compete against the more potent
offensive teams, especially Pittsburgh, which can be found in their
Metropolitan backyard. The additions of Del Zotto and Nick Schultz don’t
exactly make this unit better, and if the Flyers want to have postseason
success, they need to upgrade this area throughout the season.
Goaltending
Okay, so Steve Mason didn’t replicate his remarkable rookie season
in Columbus, when he registered 10 shutouts and posted a 2.29 goalsagainst
average. But he was pretty steady in Philadelphia, especially
playing in net behind a below-par defense. Mason’s .917 save percentage
was solid, he allowed 2.50 goals in his 61 games, and he shut out four
opponents. Mason finished seventh in the Vezina voting and had an allaround
strong year.
The question, of course, is can he duplicate it. He was not very good in
Columbus after his debut, and with the Flyers’ defense not so sturdy, he
can’t afford to become a liability. That goes double since his backup, Ray
Emery, is mercurial. He was just 9-12-2 last year, with a 2.96 GAA. That
doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence on a team that needs someone reliable
between the posts. Emery could be great this year; it has happened
before. But he didn’t deliver last season.
Power Play
The Flyers’ success rate on the power play dropped nearly two
percentage points from 2012-13, and that’s not enough to boost a team
into Cup contention. Swapping Hartnell for Umberger is a wash in this
area, based on their 2013-14 production, but the team needs more people
to produce when it has an advantage.
Simmonds was a beast on the power play last year, but it’s
unreasonable to expect him to deliver like that again, especially since his
15 goals were four more than his previous career high and nine better
than his 2012-13 performance. Giroux is steady in this area, as is Voracek.
Expect Lecavalier to produce on the advantage, and Streit and Schenn
will chip in, but this area has to improve across the board, if Philadelphia
is going to move forward. Even though they were eighth in the league,
they were still behind division mates Pittsburgh and Washington.
Penalty Kill
The Flyers’
penalty kill was
ranked seventh in
the NHL last year,
which is kind of
surprising, given that
the team’s defense
was so vulnerable.
But having Mason
solid in goal was a big
reason for the team’s
success in that area.
Perhaps the
biggest reason for the
success is that the
Flyers just don’t let
other teams get shots
on goal when they
are on the power play.
When you subtract
blocked shots and
shots that go wide
or high, the Flyers
allowed the fewest enemy power play shots in the league. That’s huge.
Claude Giroux
Len Redkoles/NHL/Getty Images
As for the personnel, Couturier is a particularly strong penalty killer.
So are Schenn, Read and Grossman. Although Timonen won’t be there,
it’s unlikely the Flyers will slip too far. Under Craig Berube, they have a
good system and execute it well on a nightly basis.
Prediction
The Flyers will again be a team that finishes in the top four among
their Metropolitan brethren, but it’s unrealistic to consider this
group good enough to win the division or contend for the Stanley
Cup. The defense isn’t good enough, and while there is good
scoring depth, there aren’t enough big producers.
Scoreboard
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
PLAYOFF FINISH Conf QF DNQ Conf SF Conf SF Stanley Cup Finals
REGULAR SEASON 42-30-10 23-22-3 47-26-9 47-23-12 41-35-6
POINT TOTAL 94 49 103 106 88
SHOOTOUT RECORD 3-8 1-2 4-7 3-7 4-3
GOALS SCORED 236 133 264 259 236
GOALS ALLOWED 235 141 232 223 225
POWER-PLAY % 19.73 21.64 19.70 16.61 21.38
PENALTY KILL % 84.81 85.87 81.82 82.75 82.93